The Oldest Known Evidence Of Human Warfare Has Been Confirmed

Part of a man’s skeleton found lying in the lagoon. The skull has multiple lesions on the front and left side consistent with wounds from a blunt implement. Photograph: Marta Mirazón Lahr

The Guardian: Stone-age massacre offers earliest evidence of human warfare

Researchers say remains of 27 murdered tribespeople in Kenya prove attacks were normal part of hunter-gatherer relations

Some 10,000 years ago a woman in the last stages of pregnancy met a terrible death, trussed like a captive animal and dumped into shallow water at the edge of a Kenyan lagoon. She died with at least 27 members of her tribe, all equally brutally murdered, in the earliest evidence of warfare between stone age hunter-gatherers.

The fossilised remains of the victims, still lying where they fell, preserved in the sediment of a marshy pool that dried up thousands of years ago, were found by a team of scientists from Cambridge University.

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CSN Editor: 27 victims .... men, women, and children .... all killed in the same place and time .... and violently. This was a deliberate massacre where taking prisoners was not a priority.

More News On The Confirmation Of The Oldest Known Evidence Of Human Warfare

Prehistoric Massacre Hints at War Among Hunter-Gatherers -- New York Times
Prehistoric massacre in Kenya called oldest evidence of warfare -- Reuters
10,000-Year-Old Battered Bones May Be Oldest Evidence of Human Warfare -- Live Science
Attack 10,000 years ago is earliest known act of warfare -- Science News
Anthropologists in Kenya find evidence of 10,000-year-old massacre -- DW
Prehistoric site shows brutal human attacks -- USA Today
War is as old as time: Cambridge University researchers unveil massacred bodies dating back 10,000 years -- The Independent
A Prehistoric Mass Grave Suggests Hunter-Gatherers Weren’t So Peaceful -- The Atlantic
10,000-year-old mass killing is still a mystery -- Ars Technica
Photos: The Oldest Known Evidence of Warfare Unearthed -- Live Science

10 Mysterious Extinct Human Species (Video)

Oetzi, The Tyrolean Iceman Is The Oldest Tattooed Human

Ötzi the Iceman on a sheet-covered autopsy table. Wikipedia

Discovery News: Oetzi the Iceman Has World's Oldest Tattoos

Oetzi, the Tyrolean Iceman entombed beneath an alpine glacier some 5,300 years ago, is the oldest tattooed human, according to a new study.

The mummy boasts tattoos grouped across 19 body parts. Earlier this year, Marco Samadelli and colleagues from the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Italy, spotted a new tattoo on the mummified body, bringing the total count of the Iceman’s skin markings up to 61.

Published in the February 2016 edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the research reveals how an error in reading radiocarbon data wrongly attributed the record to an unidentified South American mummy.

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CSN Editor: Wow .... it looks like man and his fascination for tattoos goes back thousands of years.

The Early Inhabitants Of Ireland Came From Beyond The Black Sea

BBC: Ancient DNA sheds light on Irish origins

Scientists have sequenced the first ancient human genomes from Ireland, shedding light on the genesis of Celtic populations.

The genome is the instruction booklet for building a human, comprising three billion paired DNA "letters".

The work shows that early Irish farmers were similar to southern Europeans.

Genetic patterns then changed dramatically in the Bronze Age - as newcomers from the eastern periphery of Europe settled in the Atlantic region.

Details of the work, by geneticists from Trinity College Dublin and archaeologists from Queen's University Belfast are published in the journal PNAS.

More News On Gene Testing that Reveals That Irelands First Inhabitants Were From The Black Sea And The Middle East

Irish Genome Sequenced, Revealing Early Celtic Origins -- Nature World News
Secrets of 5,200-year-old Irish woman, 4,000-year-old men revealed in genome project -- Irish Central
Ancient Irish genome reveals a massive migration from the east -- Washington Post
Irish have roots in the Middle East and Black Sea, scientists discover -- Independent.ie
From The Middle East To Meath: Early Settlers Came To Ireland From Beyond The Black Sea -- Yahoo News
Ancient DNA Traces Irish Roots To Mass Migrations -- Forbes
First Sequences of Ancient Irish Human Genomes Support Mass Migration History -- Genome Web

Tianyuan Cave: Humans Living 40,000 Years Ago Likely Related To Many Present-Day Asians And Native Americans

The leg of the early modern human from Tianyuan Cave was used for the genetic analysis as well as for carbon dating. (Credit: MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology) 

A Relative from the Tianyuan Cave: Humans Living 40,000 Years Ago Likely Related to Many Present-Day Asians and Native Americans -- Daily Science 

Jan. 21, 2013 — Ancient DNA has revealed that humans living some 40,000 years ago in the area near Beijing were likely related to many present-day Asians and Native Americans.

An international team of researchers including Svante Pääbo and Qiaomei Fu of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, sequenced nuclear and mitochondrial DNA that had been extracted from the leg of an early modern human from Tianyuan Cave near Beijing, China.

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My Comment: We are not so different from our ancestors after-all.

'Earliest' Evidence Of Modern Human Behavior Found

a) Wooden poison applicator from Border Cave made from Flueggea virosa dated to 24,564 - 23,941 years, with close-up showing notches, and b) adhering residue containing poisonous ricinoleic acid found in castor beans.
c) Kalahari San poison applicators housed at Museum Africa, Johannesburg, showing lumps of organic compounds used for hafting (yellow) and poisoning (black) arrow points, and the notching to prevent slippage of the material.
d) Lump of beeswax from Border Cave containing Euphorbia tirucalli resin and possibly egg, bound with twine, and dated 41,167 - 39,194 years.
e) Bone arrow point from Border Cave and f) Kalahari San fixed bone arrow heads.
Credit: Francesco d’Errico and Lucinda Backwell

'Earliest' Evidence Of Modern Human Culture Found -- BBC

The earliest unambiguous evidence for modern human behaviour has been discovered by an international team of researchers in a South African cave.

The finds provide early evidence for the origin of modern human behaviour 44,000 years ago, over 20,000 years before other findings.

The artefacts are near identical to modern-day tools of the indigenous African San bush people.

The research was published yesterday in PNAS.

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My Comment: Time to rewrite the anthropology books.

What Did Ancient Humans Eat?

A high-tech dental analysis of a 2-million-year-old hominid from South Africa involving CU-Boulder researchers indicates it had a unique diet that included trees, bushes and fruits. (Credit: Photo courtesy Paul Sandberg, University of Colorado)

Ancient Human Ancestors Had Unique Diet -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 27, 2012) — When it came to eating, an upright, 2 million-year-old African hominid had a diet unlike virtually all other known human ancestors, says a study led by the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and involving the University of Colorado Boulder.

The study indicated that Australopithecus sediba -- a short, gangly hominid that lived in South Africa -- ate harder foods than other early hominids, targeting trees, bushes and fruits.

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My Comment: I guess pizza was not around at the time. :)

Australian Aboriginal Rock Art Is 28,000 Years Old

Art on the ceiling of the shelter Narwala Gabarnmang. Credit: University of Southern Queensland

Aboriginal Rock Art Is 28,000 Years Old -- Cosmos/AFP

SYDNEY: Aboriginal rock art found in remote Australia has been dated at 28,000 years old, experts have said, prompting new speculation that indigenous communities were among the world's most advanced.

Archaeologists picked up the fragment in inaccessible wilderness in Arnhem Land in the country's north a year ago, and recent carbon dating of its charcoal drawing has placed it among some of the oldest art on the planet.

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My Comment: Early man was not so backwards after-all.

The World's Oldest Cave Art

A look inside the Altamira Cave in northern Spain

Red Dot Becomes 'Oldest Cave Art' -- BBC

Red dots, hand stencils and animal figures represent the oldest examples yet found of cave art in Europe.

The symbols on the walls at 11 Spanish locations, including the World Heritage sites of Altamira, El Castillo and Tito Bustillo have long been recognised for their antiquity.

But researchers have now used refined dating techniques to get a more accurate determination of their ages.

One motif - a faint red dot - is said to be more than 40,000 years old.

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My Comment: Just think about it .... art that has survived 40,000 years old.

Were Neanderthals The First Cave Painters?

In El Castillo cave, hand stencils join a red disk (not pictured) that may be Earth's oldest cave art. Photograph courtesy Pedro Saura via Science/AAAS

World's Oldest Cave Art Found—Made By Neanderthals? -- National Geographic

"It adds to evidence Neanderthals were not a distinct species," archaeologist says.

Prehistoric dots and crimson hand stencils on Spanish cave walls are now the world's oldest known cave art, according to new dating results—perhaps the best evidence yet that Neanderthals were Earth's first cave painters.

If that's the case, the discovery narrows the cultural distance between us and Neanderthals—and fuels the argument, at least for one scientist, that the heavy-browed humans were not a separate species but only another race.

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My Comment: Cave art that is tens of thousands of years old .... quite incredible when you think about it.

Ancient Man Had A Taste For Sea Food

Catching fish is a practice that goes back thousands of years

World's 'Oldest Fish Trap' Found Off Coast Of Sweden -- BBC

Wooden fish traps said to be some 9,000 years old have been found in the Baltic Sea off Sweden, possibly the oldest such traps in existence.

Marine archaeologists from Stockholm's Sodertorn University found finger-thick hazel rods grouped on the sea bed.

They are thought to be the remains of stationary basket traps.

"This is the world's oldest find when it comes to fishing," said Johan Ronnby, a professor in marine archaeology.

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My Comment: I guess ancient man had a taste for sea food.

Did An Ancient Plague Wipe Out Early Man?

Neanderthal man: The key factor which separated man from our evolutionary rivals 100,000 years ago may not have been language - but instead a mysterious plague

Was A Mysterious Ancient Plague Which Killed All But 5,000 'Pre Humans' The Key To Man's Triumph Over The Neanderthals? -- Daily Mail

* Mysterious plague reduced human numbers to just 5,000-10,000
* Plague related to modern infections
* Man 'bounced back' - and then spread from Africa all over the world

The key factor which separated man from our evolutionary rivals 100,000 years ago may not have been language - but instead a mysterious plague.

The plague ravaged populations of early humans in Africa, until just 5-10,000 were left.

But from that small population, humans emerged - and triumphed over other evolutionary cousins such as Neanderthals.

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Man's Oldest Musical Instrument Is 42,000 Years Old (Give Or Take)

Looks like our earliest ancestors enjoyed music, too

42,000-Year-Old Mammoth Ivory And Bird Bone Flutes Are Oldest Instruments Ever Found -- Y! Tech/Yahoo News

It looks like our earliest human ancestors enjoyed recreational activities other than painting on cave walls. A study by Oxford University researchers revealed that the oldest musical instruments ever discovered date as far back as 42,000 to 43,000 years ago. These instruments are flutes made out of mammoth ivory and bird bones (above).

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My Comment: One can only wonder on what were the melodies played by early man.

Even In The Stone Age There Were 'Haves' And 'Have Nots'

Analysis of grave sites across central Europe found that 7,000 years ago, in the early Neolithic era, some farmers had better land and better tools, which they were buried with.

Even In The Stone Age There Were 'Haves' And 'Have Nots' - And Our Unequal Society Began 7,000 Years Ago -- Daily Mail

* People buried with stone 'adzes' had better farming land
* Inherited wealth began just as farming spread across Europe
* Social inequality began far earlier than many imagined
* Early Neolithic farmers divided into 'haves' and 'have nots'

The gap between rich and poor began far earlier than most of us might imagine.

In 5,000BC, long before the Egyptians built the pyramids, Europeans were already divided into ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.

Analysis of grave sites across central Europe found that 7,000 years ago, in the early Neolithic era, some farmers had better land – and better tools, which they were buried with.

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My Comment: I guess we have not changed much over the past few centuries.

Early Man Had Music And Art 40,000 Years Ago

Jewelry. Geißenklösterle Cave is one of several caves in the Swabian Jura that have produced important examples of personal ornaments, figurative art, mythical imagery and musical instruments. (Credit: Image courtesy of Universitaet Tübingen)

Oldest Art Even Older: New Dates from Geißenklösterle Cave Show Early Arrival of Modern Humans, Art and Music -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (May 24, 2012) — New dates from Geißenklösterle Cave in Southwest Germany document the early arrival of modern humans and early appearance of art and music.

Researchers from Oxford and Tübingen have published new radiocarbon dates from the from Geißenklösterle Cave in Swabian Jura of Southwestern Germany in the Journal of Human Evolution. The new dates use improved methods to remove contamination and produced ages between began between 42,000 – 43,000 years ago for start of the Aurignacian, the first culture to produce a wide range of figurative art, music and other key innovations as postulated in the Kulturpumpe Hypothesis. The full spectrum of these innovations were established in the region no later than 40 000 years ago.

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My Comment: It looks like that "culturally" we have not changed much in the past 40,000 years.

A Search For The Bones Of An Early American

The Young Man of Chan Hol II skeleton was laid to rest 10,000 years ago when sea levels were much lower (Image: Eugenio Acevez/Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia/REUTERS)

Bones Of Early American Disappear From Underwater Cave -- New Scientist

One of the first humans to inhabit the Americas has been stolen – and archaeologists want it back.

The skeleton, which is probably at least 10,000 years old, has disappeared from a cenote, or underground water reservoir, in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

In response, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Mexico City has placed "wanted" posters in supermarkets, bakeries and dive shops in and around the nearby town of Tulum. They are also considering legal action to recover the remains.

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Human Ancestors Were Using Fire A Million Years Ago

Rock art in Wonderwerk cave 40km from Kuruman Northern Cape South Africa: Ash found in a layer dated at a million years old hints that inhabitants of the cave were using fire a million years ago

Human Ancestors Were Using Fire A Million Years Ago - 300,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought -- Daily Mail

* Ash found among bones and burned plants in South African cave
* Key moment in human evolution
* Hints that ancestors as early as homo erectus might have used fire

One of the turning points in human evolution occurred 300,000 years earlier than previously believed.

Traces of ash mixed with million-year-old bones and tools have been uncovered in the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa.

Burned plants and bones were found in the cave, suggesting that its inhabitants cooked and perhaps even socialised around camp fires.

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My Comment: We were apparently more smarter than what we thought we were 1 million years ago.

How Satellites Are Locating Ancient Human Settlements

The MIT software looks for signs of ancient settlements including earth disturbed by collapsing mud huts, and lighter areas of earth created by disturbed soil

Satellites Identify Thousands Of Small Hills As Ancient Human Settlements -- Christian Science Monitor

Now, two scientists have figured out a more efficient way of locating these sites, via their footprints, from space.

Ancient humans have changed the landscape around their settlements in such ways that even today archaeologists can distinguish between "lived in" spots and those never occupied by humans.

Now, two scientists have figured out a more efficient way of locating these sites, via their footprints, from space.

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More News On How Satellites Are Locating Ancient Human Settlements

A missing chapter in history? New satellite technique finds 9,000 ancient settlements dotted across what is now Syria -- Daily Mail
Satellites expose 8,000 years of civilization -- Nature
Satellite Views Reveal Early Human Settlements -- Discovery News
Satellites spy 1000s of ancient human settlements -- CBS/Live Science
Ancient sites spotted from space, say archaeologists -- BBC
Researchers Discover Thousands Of Early Human Settlements In Syria -- IBTimes
Using Space Satellites to Spot Ancient Cities -- Smithsonian

Chinese Fossils May Be New Human Species

A view of a skull from the Red Deer Cave People. Researchers found the species had unique features seen neither in modern nor known archaic lineages of humans. CREDIT: Darren Curnoe

Mysterious Chinese Fossils May Be New Human Species -- Live Science

Mysterious fossils of what may be a previously unknown type of human have been uncovered in caves in China, ones that possess a highly unusual mix of bygone and modern human features, scientists reveal.

Surprisingly, the fossils are only between 11,500 and 14,500 years old. That means they would have shared the landscape with modern humans when China's earliest farmers were first appearing.

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My Comment: We will have to wait for the DNA tests, but this discovery is surprising.

Were Europeans The First Americans?

Source: Dennis Stanford and Bruce Bradley. The Washington Post.
An established theory says the first Americans walked across the Bering Sea about 13,000-15,000 years ago. But stone tools found in the mid-Atlantic suggest an arrival from Europe about 20,000-22,000 years ago. The tools match those made by the mysterious Solutrean people of ice-age Iberia.

Radical Theory Of First Americans Places Stone Age Europeans In Delmarva 20,000 Years Ago -- Washington Post

When the crew of the Virginia scallop trawler Cinmar hauled a mastodon tusk onto the deck in 1970, another oddity dropped out of the net: a dark, tapered stone blade, nearly eight inches long and still sharp.

Forty years later, this rediscovered prehistoric slasher has reopened debate on a radical theory about who the first Americans were and when they got here.

Archaeologists have long held that North America remained unpopulated until about 15,000 years ago, when Siberian people walked or boated into Alaska and then moved down the West Coast.

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